Crowder’s 3 Lifts Marquette Over Washington

With 6.3 seconds left Jae Crowder drained a 3-pointer from the corner to cap a thrilling night at Madison Square Garden and to give No. 11 Marquette a 79-77 win over Washington.

Those who were at the Jimmy V Classic on Tuesday night were treated to a spectacular game between the Golden Eagles and the Huskies. With 12:20 remaining in the second half, Crowder hit a layup to cut the Washington lead to 52-50. The game remained within one-possession for the rest of the contest.

Crowder finished with 18 points and 6 rebounds, but it was once again Darius Johnson-Odom leading the way for Marquette. The senior guard poured in 23 points and upped his scoring average to 19.9 ppg in the process.

Despite Washington falling to 4-3, Marquette’s head coach Buzz Williams had high praise for his opponent after the win.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

“They’re really good,” said Williams. “Really, really, really, really good. They’re the 10th-fastest team in the country. They have six guys that average nine points or more. They have four future NBA draft picks.”

With back-to-back wins over No. 14 Wisconsin and Washington, Marquette is on the verge of cracking the top-10. Its success means another top-heavy Big East with Marquette competing with No. 3 Syracuse, No. 5 Louisville and No. 9 Connecticut for the conference crown.